Supply Chain Needs to Smarten Up

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 has created a compliance matter for the supply chain which they are not skilled to easily address. The unique challenges will require those using coltan (tantalum), wolframite (tungsten), and cassiterite (tin) and gold to comply with upcoming Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.

Company executives are now being warned to begin to develop a strategy for dealing with their use of conflict minerals. In a recent article by Andrew Reese of Supply and Demand Chain Executive, attention is brought to the complexity of the issue. Topics brought up include ongoing Congo dynamics, lack of standards for managing mineral supply chain origins, and tracking tools needed.

One would have thought that the industry would have had time to address these issue. They had better start solving the problem because ready or not, here it comes!

Responses to Conflict Minerals Actions

In the first half of 2010, the issue of conflict minerals has been put front and center. Due to the efforts of non-governmental organizations, certain governments and concerned consumers, participants at all levels of the supply chain for tantalum, tin and tungsten were forced to pay REAL attention to this long-neglected issue.

First: The problem
Now: The response

The first response came in the United States with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed by President Obama. Now, Congo's President Joseph Kabila announced a full ban on all minerals mined in the eastern Congolese provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema.

According to a recent release from the Enough Project, "The ban will not promote an end to the ongoing conflict unless it is accompanied by concrete plans to deliver army reform, certification of mineral exports, and opportunities for peaceful development." Export bans such as those proposed by the Congolese government are difficult to enforce as active smuggling of minerals to surrounding countries is reportedly common.